When Les Misérables was first published in 1862, it was illustrated by Émile Bayard, whose rendering of little Cosette perfectly captures the essence of what Hugo means by les misérables. To me it’s mostly in the eyes and the tiny mouth, but the massive broom in her hands as she sweeps adds to the sadness. Bayard’s image of Cosette’s face is known the world over, thanks to the Cameron Mackintosh musical, as it was adapted and used in countless promotional posters, advertisements, album covers–almost anything connected with the musical.
But Bayard created dozens of other illustrations for the novel, many of which you’ve already seen if you’ve been following the read-along here or on Twitter. I love his illustrations and will continue to use them as we make our way through the book. For this week’s post I’m recapping some of my favorite images so far, along with a few I didn’t get the chance to use. Do you have a favorite among them? All of the following images illustrate scenes from the first forty-two chapters of the book–no spoilers, now!
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Curiously I like the one of Myriel in his garden – it has a Japanese feel to it which I find appealing right now.
I am glad you are putting the illustrations on the blog because I am mainly reading on my Kindle which doesn’t have any! I particularly appreciate illustrations for providing me with a visual as to how people dressed in the time period.
I have to admit, however, that the portrait of Fantine doesn’t make here out to be all that pretty!
I like the illustrations you posted and look forward to seeing more. Sadly, my book doesn’t have any illustrations inside. The cover has a small one of Cosette, but it only shows her sad little face and shoulders. Now I know how important that big broom is to the illustration and to Cosette’s story…at least so far.